Hello Ann,
What a nice collection of hostas you have! I took some time yesterday and browsed through some of your pictures.
What first caught my attention was your picture of Undulata Albomarginata. I "inherited" a similar hosta that my mother used to grow back in the 70s and 80s. I had thought it might be this variety, but wasn't sure until I zoomed in on your photo. Yep, that's it! Thank you for posting the picture.
It's one rough-and-tough plant... does equally well in sun or shade, and it multiplies very rapidly. I now have a dozen-or-so clumps of it, even though I've been dividing and sending divisions to our annual garden club plant sale for several years now. Undulata Albomarginata may be an oldie, but it's definitely a goodie. Well worth having in the hosta garden.
I'm so sorry to read of your unfortunate experience with Gypsy Rose. Of the hostas I presently have, that one is probably my favorite. I first purchased it at a local nursery several years ago. Growing in the pot along with it was a small sport, which I divided out and planted separately. The sport resembles Gold Standard (which I understand was a grandparent to Gypsy), except that it has matured to less than half the size of Gold Standard. I'm keeping it, but unless someone convinces me that there's a demand for a small version of Gold Standard, I won't try to do anything with it.
Gypsy Rose is another variety that increases very rapidly. Although I've given away numerous smaller divisions, I have maybe a dozen or so clumps growing in my gardens. It does not grow quite as large as Striptease, which I also own, but it seems to be more stable. (I've had lots of trouble with Striptease reverting to plain green.)
Thus far, I've seen no signs of Virus X in the Gypsy, but now that I've read and seen pictures of your experience, I'll be on the lookout.
I'm attaching a photo that has both Undulata Albomarginata and Gypsy Rose in it. (The large blue hosta in the middle is Gentle Giant, and the one with the large gold-margined leaves is Ivory Coast. The gold will fade out to ivory in a few weeks. The small, white-margined plants are Diamond Tiara, which need to be moved.) (If only I could teach the resident rabbits to live on a diet of weeds...)
Kat2014 in western Massachusetts.
